Life IS Better in the Woods - Updated for Friday Foto Friends

NOTE: THIS WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED ON 7/10/2015, SO "BEAR" WITH ME...SOME OF THIS INFORMATION HAS CHANGED SINCE THEN, but this has been a week that has been too hot to get out and take many new pictures, and here it is Friday Foto Friends day, and I don't have anything new to share. So, I will update this "old" post and re-share! I hope you don't mind!  Some things have not changed at all, and then again, quite a lot has changed!!

My son creates these wooden signs...you can learn more about that  on his facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/BensWoodSigns - BUT UPDATE 7/28/17: Lately he hasn't been doing signs as he has a full time job AND is now engaged and is spending most of his "free" time with his lovely fiance', planning their upcoming wedding in November!!  Once they get settled he does hope to get back into the sign business "on the side" as time permits!

What this particular sign has inspired in me is a sense of thankfulness for the fact that yes, MY life IS better in the woods!  We moved out to the forest about 3 1/2 years ago, (NOW 5 1/2 YEARS) and since then life has truly been one adventure after another.  We've discovered myriads of interesting wildlife, as well as receiving the blessing of many new friends.  (Click on the links for more about those stories).  But the greatest gift has been the peace that comes over me each afternoon as I leave my busy job in the city and enter the quiet sanctuary of the forest woods    UPDATE:  This post was originally written about four months before I retired...so now I get to live in this "quiet sanctuary" all the time!!!  And sometimes it isn't so quiet, but I still love it!

and country roads that lead me home. I really don't even mind the fact that I must drive over 30 miles each way to and from work.  The ride is a time of thankfulness as I enjoy the scenes and sights of nature surrounding my journey and listen to delightful songs of praise and worship all the way. This always helps set the tone for my day on the way to work...and again on my way home my heart is prepared for the tasks that await me.  UPDATE:  I don't miss that ride to and from work every day now that I am retired, but I do miss the times of listening to the music as I drove along...now I take rides with hubby and we talk, which is nice....and sometimes we make music together as we ride, which is especially nice.

Some people don't really understand how we could enjoy living so far from "civilization"....it is at least 20 miles to the nearest Walmart, and we currently don't have a viable grocery store in our community  (UPDATE: We now DO have a small grocery store that reopened earlier this year, and it is great for meats and necessities, but we still travel to Walmart at least once a week for the BIG stuff!)  and only a couple small restaurants in the area that serve a limited menu at limited times. We DO have a small hardware store, post office, Dollar General and a gas station/handy store. We also have a wonderful Saturday flea market where my son sells his signs each week to the weekend visitors and locals.   (UPDATE: See earlier note about this...he's not selling his signs at the Flea Market right now, but may do so in the fall again as time & fiance' permits!  Ha ha!)

 We also have several excellent small churches, including our own home Bible Fellowship that meets in our home every Sunday morning for worship and study of God's Word.  UPDATE: Our Home Bible Fellowship is now meeting on Wednesday mornings due to changes in everyone's schedules. 

And so wonderfully, we have God's great outdoors and many opportunities for enjoying nature via hiking, boating,

fishing, hunting or simply watching the birds,

deer,

Bears,

Hummingbirds

and butterflies.

Wildflowers,

trees, berries and interesting insects

of every kind abound.

There are so many places to explore...(if only it wasn't so hot right now...but fall is on its way)

I find myself longing to strike out on my own in search of adventure...but I am reminded that there ARE bears

in the woods, (and right in front of my house!)   and I need to be safe.

Anyway, I want to pause and give thanks to the Lord for His goodness to us in providing such a place of refuge for our family.  There was a time when we didn't know how we were ever going to find an affordable home to help us ease into retirement...but God truly surprised us when He opened THIS window of opportunity.  He proved to us that not only was HE able to provide for us, but that He had prepared special people to be kind and generous and willing to take a chance on us until we could stand on our own again. And now He has enabled us to do just that, and we want to say thank you. (No names needed, God knows).

"O Lord, YOU are the portion of 

my inheritance and my cup;

You maintain my lot.

The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;

Yes, I have a good inheritance.

I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel;

My heart also instructs me 

in the night seasons.

I have set the Lord always before me;

Because He is at my right hand

I shall not be moved.

Therefore my heart is glad,

and my glory rejoices;

My flesh also will rest in hope.

For You will not leave my soul in Sheol,

Nor will You allow Your

Holy One to see corruption.

You will show me the path of life;

In Your Presence is fullness of joy;

At Your right hand 

are pleasures forevermore."

Psalm 16:5-11

I suppose there may be some who will say that this is all well and good for you, but what about me? When is God going to show ME some pleasant places and a refuge from the world?  I cannot answer for God, but I can only say that when we put our trust in Him, He promises in His Word to show us the "path of life", and that "in (His) presence is fullness of joy".  For you it may not be in the woods, but it might be in a different neighborhood, or job, or place of worship.  It could be a new friendship or relationship that brings joy and fulfillment after a long wait.  It could even be finding that place of contentment right where you are when you realize that God is with you and that He will never leave your side.

I read a verse in my morning devotions a couple of days ago that stood out to me and also caught my husband's attention, so much so that he asked me to find it again the next morning and read it again.
The verse is found in Psalm 17:15 ~

"As for me, I will see Your Face in righteousness;

I shall be satisfied when I 

awake in Your likeness."

This is complete contentment and peace...to be satisfied when we awake one day in heaven, and to find that we shall be like HIM.  Knowing that helps us to endure our trials here. That, and the knowledge that "in Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

Thank you, Lord, for Your Presence here and now...

and forevermore!

Amen.

UPDATE:  I hope you managed to read through all of the "strike-through's" as I attempted to update this post and bring it up to date. I guess I didn't realize just how much has changed since I originally wrote this two years ago! So much can change in such a short amount of time...so we need to live each day as if it could be our last...and give God the glory and praise He is so worthy of every single day!

Now, let's hop on over to Bev's place at Breathing In Grace  and see what our other friends are posting today for Friday Foto Friends.

"I Will Call Upon The Lord" -Reposted

This was originally posted on 10/26/2014, just 5 months after the passing of our precious son. Two years later, we are still learning to call upon the Lord during times of distress and heartache...and He has never let us down.  This message encouraged my own heart even as I wrote it at that time. I pray there may be someone (or many) who will be blessed and encouraged by this same message yet today.

Original Post from 10/26/2014:

"I will love You, O Lord, my strength.

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;

My God, my strength, in Whom I will trust;

My shield and the horn of my salvation,

my stronghold.

I will call upon the Lord,

Who is worthy to be praised;

So shall I be saved from my enemies."

Psalm 18: 1-3

"The Lord Lives!

Blessed be my Rock!

Let the God of my salvation be exalted."

Psalm 18:46

Mt. Washington, NH, picture taken October, 2013

Those of you who are familiar with scripture choruses may recognize one in the verses above.  I love it when I start reading from God's Word, and the words of the chosen passage jump out at me and cause me to start singing! Such was the case this morning as I read these powerful verses from Psalm 18.   Sing along with me if you know this little song:

"The Lord liveth,

and blessed be my Rock!

Let the God of my salvation be exalted!

The Lord liveth,

and blessed be my Rock!

And may the God of my salvation be exalted!

I will call upon the Lord,

Who is worthy to be praised...

So shall I be saved from my enemies;

I will call upon the Lord!"

What I really loved about reading these verses today were the several references to the word "Strength".   This past year I chose for my "One Word" for 2014 the word Strengthen.  Click HERE for more about that.   As we are drawing closer to the end of the year, I've been thinking about all the ways that God has indeed "strengthened" me throughout these months. It hasn't been easy.  The exercises (click on link) have been excruciating in most cases. I had no idea just how much I was going to have to endure to grow in strength.   (Click on the links for previous stories that will give you the background for this story).   But I have never been alone in that quest. 

The first few verses printed at the beginning of this post will tell you WHO has been with me, 

and WHO has actually been my strength, 

my Rock, my Fortress, my Deliverer...

Yes, it has been my GOD, My Saviour,

who has been my Strength...and in HIM I will trust. 

He has been my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!

So, since I've endured so much this past year, am I now some amazing strong woman, full of wonderful powers and strength beyond belief?  Well, no, I'd hardly say that.  It seems like when we get through one "feat of strengthening", it is oftentimes the building block upon which new challenges will be sent our way. We are never intended in this life to rest upon our laurels of great accomplishments of strength. We are strengthened for a purpose. It could be that God wants us to use our experiences to help others when they face the calamities and heartaches of their lives. It may be that we are strengthened so that we can learn just how dependent upon God we really are... so that we will know beyond a shadow of doubt exactly WHO it was who lifted us up when we were so weak we could not stand on our own.

"In my distress I called upon the Lord,

and cried out to my God;

He heard my voice from His temple,

And my cry came before Him,

even to His ears."

Psalm 18:6

My dear friend, I don't know what challenges you are currently facing, or will face in the upcoming months.  But I do know One Who stands ready to be your "strength...your rock, your fortress and deliverer".  If you do not already know this wonderful God and Savior, I pray that you will take the time to get to know Him now, while things are good...don't wait until the hard times come to call out to Him in your distress...seek His face now...call upon the Lord "Who is worthy to be praised..." and I can assure you He will answer you. He wants to be there for you in the good times as well as the difficult days.  Then you will be able to sing this little song along with me:

"The Lord liveth,

and blessed be my Rock!

Let the God of my salvation be exalted!

The Lord liveth,

and blessed be my Rock!

And may the God of my salvation be exalted!

I will call upon the Lord,

Who is worthy to be praised...

So shall I be saved from my enemies;

I will call upon the Lord!"

Don’t Call the Preacher’s Wife for Comfort!

This is an excerpt from my "book" that will probably never be published, so I might as well share it with you here.  I wrote this chapter back in our days of ministry, following our move to a new church that had started off rather badly for us. We had moved from the country to the city...and had a lot of adjustments to make in our methods of ministering to our new flock. This little story is true...and was not a great way for me to make my entrance into this rather tightly knit church community. I wish I could say it was my only embarrassing moment.  However, this was only one of many difficult moments for me in this particular congregation.

Once we got over the initial shock of realizing that we were actually suffering from a type of “culture shock” in this new atmosphere, we began to settle down and enjoy our church and new home.  I tried hard to behave and not put my foot in my mouth anymore or do things that would upset the kind people. (I'll share those stories later)  However it seemed as though things just kept happening…

There was a very dear, sweet older couple in our church that had never had any children and had been married for over fifty years.  Mr. "Conrad" (name changed) had been quite ill with cancer and was failing rapidly.  One afternoon I received a call from his neighbor saying that Mr. "Conrad" was unconscious and on his way to the hospital by ambulance, and could my husband please go to the hospital to meet him.  I told the lady that I would contact him and have him go right away as he was currently visiting someone else in another hospital.  She then asked me if I could speak with Mrs. "Conrad", as she was very distraught.  I said certainly, and she put her on the phone.  I don’t remember just what I said to Mrs. "Conrad"  but I tried to reassure her and prayed with her.  She said thank you and good-bye and hung up. 

I finally reached my husband at the other hospital (this was before cell phones) and told him to please hurry to the other hospital as Mr. "Conrad" was on his way in the ambulance.  A little while later John called me and said, “I thought you said Mr. "Conrad" was on his way to the hospital!”   I said, “Yes, that’s what I was told.”  He said, “Well, they just brought in Mrs. "Conrad" by ambulance, and she’s deader than a door nail!”  I said, “Oh my!  I just spoke with her a few minutes ago on the phone, and she was fine!”  John said, “Well, she’s not fine now!”  I told him that he’d better go check in the emergency room, because Mr. "Conrad" was supposed to be there somewhere, and he would certainly need him now!

The same neighbor lady called me back to find out if the Pastor had reached the hospital yet, and I asked her what happened to Mrs. "Conrad".  She said, “Well, as soon as she hung up the phone from talking to you, she just turned around and dropped dead of a heart attack!”  Oh, dear Lord!  You can  imagine how I felt then!  Not only did I feel badly that Mrs. "Conrad" had just passed away, but especially that she had  passed away right after I spoke with her!  I was racking my brain to try and remember exactly what I had said to her that could have upset her so badly!  But I had to stop and realize that it wasn’t what I’d said that killed her…she was already grieving beyond her ability to live without her husband!  The interesting thing is, Mr. "Conrad" did not die until around 11:00 that night! My first thought was, “Can you imagine how surprised Mr. "Conrad" was when he entered Heaven’s Gates and saw Mrs. "Conrad" already there?”  He probably said, “Ella, how did you get here before me?”  And she might have said, “Oh Henry, I thought something awful must have happened when I got here and you weren’t here yet!”  And with that they embraced each other and were welcomed into the arms of Jesus together to live eternally ever after! 

A few days later my husband performed his very first (and last) double funeral for a dear sweet couple who literally could not live without each other!

The story that went around the church after that was, “Don’t call the preacher’s wife when you need comforting! Whatever she said to poor Mrs. "Conrad" sent her straight to her grave!”  (I think this was mostly said in jest and with love...it may have even endeared me to them just a little...at least I'd like to think that way).

I share this with you for several reasons...

So you will know that your Pastor's wife and Pastor are both very human, and may not always have all the right words to say, but they do try very hard to do what is right.

Two very human humans

1. Oftentimes things happen in life beyond our ability to control and or understand, even when we have the best of intentions.
2. If you are a Pastor's wife, or a person in ministry...take heart. Do all things with love for your Lord and your people, and you can't go wrong. There will be times of humbling and times of embarrassment, but when you earnestly seek to do God's will...He will make it turn out okay.
3. Life is full of surprises...and so is death.  Don't let it catch YOU by surprise. Regardless of your age or health...be ready to go when God calls!

"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." II Timothy 2:15

"Back to the Future"?

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."

"God knew...amazing the ways He prepares us for our present back when it was still our future." ~ original quote....Pamela M. Steiner, 9/16/2010 in response to a fellow-writer-blogger who is discovering that God is using her previous experiences in mission work to inspire her devotional writings today. (See Marti Pieper at her blog: "Read, Write, Pray" http://blog.martipieper.com/  )

How often have you discovered that the experience gained from your past trials and tribulations, joys and elations, happy times and sad times have popped up in your thoughts, meditations, words of wisdom and advice and reactions today?  Now imagine that if, when you are in the midst of those trials and tribulations, joys and elations, happy times and sad times today, you are actually being prepared for a future event, whether personal or in the life of another loved one or friend, so that you may be better able to encourage, strengthen and give much needed assistance when the time comes. 

I know that those thoughts may be hard to fathom while in the midst of a struggle or heartache, but as many of us have learned through the years, our present situations all have a greater purpose in the whole scheme of life.  When we are able to step outside of our current position and look at the complete bigger picture with the eyes of God's perfect vision...we are often astounded at the beauty and magnificence of the masterpiece He has created.  I have often heard it explained as a tapestry, with all of the fibers of our daily lives, sorrows, mysteries, and joys woven together into one amazing design.  Had we never experienced those things that seemed so difficult at the time, our picture would not be complete...there would be missing threads and gaps that would detract from the overall impact and leave us wondering why it was incomplete. 

So today as we go about our daily routine, if we should happen to come upon a bump in our otherwise smooth road, let us trust God to weave that new piece of thread into our tapestry, and look forward to how beautiful it will appear in the future when we look back upon it.

God bless you and may you have a day of pleasant surprises!

"It's What's in the DASH that Counts"

I don't know who said the above quote, but I read it somewhere probably in an email.  What this is talking about is the time-line of our lives; i.e.,  Mary E. Smith, Jan. 1, 1901--Dec. 30, 1986

Someday my headstone will record the date of my birth, and then there will be a "dash", and next will be the date of my death.  Everything that is between those two dates, "the dash", is my entire life!  When I let myself think about that I realize that everything I do here matters.  Nothing in my life is insignificant to God. Neither is it lacking in value to those around me, my peers, my family, my co-workers, my friends, and even those of you who may be reading this at this very moment.  True, you may not always like what I do or say, and even less often will you agree with me. But what I do does have an impact in one way or another...whether it be for good, or for evil, there are many witnesses, both here and above...

Hebrews 12:1-2 says, "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

So, what's in the "dash" of your life?  Have you thought about who might be watching, listening, reading, wondering?  I know since I have determined to write these daily blogs I have had to think deeply about what I am going to say, because I never know who might actually be reading this.  I want my life to reflect what I am trying to convey here in words...otherwise it is worthless dribble. 

What about you?  What's in the "dash" of your life?  Let's all give that some thought...and then see what we can do about it.  Pray for me...and I'll be praying for you.